For Immediate Release:   April 9, 2002    Contact: Brian Sybert 512.477.1729

Sierra Runs Ads for State Parks Campaign

AUSTIN¾ The Sierra Club began a print advertising campaign today to build public support for an aggressive land acquisition plan to bolster Texas' state park system and protect wildlife habitat. The bulk of the ads will run in newspapers in the San Antonio and Austin areas.

The ads call attention to the proliferation of sprawl in Texas with the following message:

"The beautiful wide open spaces of Texas -from the hill country surrounding San Antonio (Austin) to the pine forests of east Texas - are being devoured by development. And we are losing the broad expanses of land that define us as Texans, nourish our spirits, and need our protection.

Instead of burying our wide-open spaces and wildlife habitats under pavement, strip malls, and poorly-planned subdivisions, we can protect the land we all love."

The ads also provide information to readers who are interested in doing more to fight sprawl and protect wildlife habitat:

"Care about Texas? Then help us care FOR Texas. Call Texas Parks & Wildlife at (512) 389-4682 and ask them to develop a statewide land and water conservation plan that fully protects our state's natural heritage, increases the amount of parkland and protected habitat, and preserves our rivers and streams, for our families, for our future.

The ads are one element in a campaign by the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club to increase public awareness of a land acquisition plan that is currently being developed by Texas Parks & Wildlife. The plan could be far reaching and help meet the demand for parks among a swelling urban population, or it may be limited by political pressure and a short-sighted view that the plan should be modest because of the state budget deficit projected for the coming biennium.

"The state parks plan should have a long-range time frame, and it should lay the groundwork now for establishing the park space Texas will need for future generations," said Brian Sybert, Natural Resource Director for the Lone Star Chapter. "That's why we encouraging Texans to contact the Parks & Wildlife Commission and voice their support for more parkland and wildlife habitat."

The ads will run in the San Antonio Express News on April 10, the Austin American Statesman on April 18, and in several weekly papers in the San Antonio area over the coming week.